Harsh Goenka Shares Old Video Of Celebrated Scientist Explaining Why H-1B Visa So Important For US

Ever since Donald Trump got re-elected as the US President, there has been an intense debate over the H-1B visa and its job market impact on American citizens. While the hard right argues that the H-1B visa holders "take away American jobs" and are a "threat to Western civilisation", Mr Trump and his top officials including Elon Musk have backed the H-1B programme saying "America needs talented people", and the H-1B allows for the world's top talent to live and work in the US, which helps the United States stay ahead of the global curve on technology, research and health care. 

Now, amid the ongoing debate, industrialist Harsh Goenka recently shared an old video of celebrated American-born physicist Michio Kaku explaining why the H-1B visa is "America's secret weapon". 

"America has a secret weapon. That secret weapon is the H-1B. Without the H-1B, the scientific establishment of this country would collapse. Forget about Google or Silicon Valley. There would be no Silicon Valley without the H-1B. Do you know what the H-1B is? It's the genius visa," Mr Kaku can be heard saying in the video. 

Watch the video below: 

Why H-1B visa is so important for America… pic.twitter.com/LHfvH6WAGD

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) February 18, 2025

In the clip, Mr Kaku stated that nearly 50 per cent of all PhD candidates in the US are foreign-born. "At my system, one of the biggest in the US, 100 per cent of the PhD candidates are foreign-born," he said, adding, "The US is the magnet sucking up all the brains of the world." 

"But now the brains are going back... to China, India. There's a Silicon Valley in India, China now... Where did it come from? It came from the US! So don't tell me science is in the engine of prosperity. You remove the H-1B visa and you collapse the economy," Mr Kaku warned. "They (H-1B visa holders) don't take jobs from Americans. They create entire industries," he said.

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Mr Goenka shared the video a few days back with the caption, "Why H-1B visa is so important for America". The video has accumulated nearly 90,000 views and several likes. 

Reacting to the video, one user wrote, "The US encourages merit. People will queue up for the US since there are enough opportunities for growth based on merit." 

"And people will go to the U.S. because they are given a platform to perform at maximum efficiency. Make India like California's tech startup ecosystem, with investors ready to invest and take risks on ideas by college dropouts. Can we?" commented another. 

"H1B is booster vaccine for American economy.. without that.. they all are paralysed..This is the power of Asian brains," wrote a third user. 

"Dr. Kaku is a remarkable scientist, his comments are so true. If #India can retain the talent of its own people and allow them to prospers here, this country will become the most prosperous in the world. #MIGA , make India great again," expressed another.